


Stripped Down

by AnonEhouse



Category: Avengers (Comics), Captain America (Comics), Iron Man (Comic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brain Damage, Cap-Ironman Bingo, De-Powered, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-20
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-15 02:23:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5767630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonEhouse/pseuds/AnonEhouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is an AU of the 'World's Most Wanted' comic arc in which Tony's brain deletion stopped short of rendering him comatose, but did remove all the information on the Superhero Database. Also Steve had come back, but in deserum version.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stripped Down

(If you are reading this on any PAY site this is a STOLEN WORK, the author has NOT Given Permission for it to be here. If you're paying to read it, you're being cheated too because you can read it on Archiveofourown for FREE.)

"I used to be smart," Tony said. He wasn't complaining, just explaining.

"I know," Steve said. He frowned. "Sometimes you were too smart."

"So," Tony said hopefully, "does that mean you like me now?"

Instead of answering, Steve sighed and dug the spoon back into the bowl of mush he was holding with one skinny hand. "Come on, open up. Osborn won't let us stay together very long, you know that."

"It tastes bad." Tony still wasn't complaining. It wasn't Steve's fault the mush was nasty. Osborn didn't like him. He yelled at Tony, and hit him and took away his blanket in the cell. Osborn was mean to Steve, too. Steve used to be big and strong, like Tony used to be smart. Steve had tried to explain what had happened to him, but Tony didn't understand.

"You gotta eat." Steve aimed the spoon at Tony's mouth. 

Obediently, Tony opened his mouth and swallowed the mush. "Why?" He wanted to say more, but he wasn't sure what he was asking.

"Because we can't give up. We can't ever give up." Steve gave Tony another spoonful. "This can't be the end. I came back, and they said you were gone."

Tony nodded. "I'm gone," he said agreeably. He patted clumsily at Steve's arm. "It's all right. I was good. I didn't tell...I don't know what it was, but it was important. More important than being smart."

"They told me you were dead."

"They told me you were dead, too." Tony blinked. "Are you sure we're not dead?"

Steve paused, spoon hovering in mid-air. He seemed to be taking Tony's question seriously. "I gotta admit, it's hard to tell."

"I don't mind being dead together with you," Tony offered. "I was sad all the time, because you were dead and I wasn't. I couldn't be dead, because..." Tony tried to figure it out, he was pretty sure that when he was smart he had reasons for everything. "I had... I think... people?" 

"Yeah, we both had people." Steve scraped the bowl and fed Tony the last of the mush. "They're still out there, our people. We have to stay strong until they can come for us."

"Will they be mad at me? When I was smart everyone was mad at me. You're still mad at me."

"Yes, I'm still mad at you. I'm mad at myself, and Osborn, and the whole world." Steve ran his fingers through his hair. "I always had a lot of anger in me, Tony. When things are wrong, and I can't fix them, I get mad."

"I used to think that when things are wrong, I could fix them," Tony said. "I was smart then and I couldn't fix them. I tried really hard Steve, really I did."

"I don't doubt it. You just... you decided how to fix things all on your own, and it was wrong. You hurt our friends. You hurt me."

"I'm sorry." Tony picked fitfully at the grimy hospital gown he wore. "There was... there was one thing, one thing I should have told you. I tried to tell you, but you were dead."

The cell door banged open. "Time's up!" one of Osborn's flunkeys said. He grabbed Steve by the arm and pulled him away from Tony, letting the bowl crash to the floor.

Steve twisted, turning to look back at Tony. "I know," he told Tony. "I've known for years. When we get out of here, we'll have a long talk." 

Tony listened until he couldn't hear Steve's voice or his footsteps, and then he lay back down on the cold metal shelf that served as his bed. He was glad Steve knew. If he ever got smart again, he promised himself he would always tell Steve everything.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fill for the 'De-powered' square on my Bingo card.
> 
> (And yes, I'm sure they were rescued, restored, and triumphant over evil, and got together happily.)


End file.
